Alfred University set to induct five into Athletics Hall of Fame
9/29/10

ALFRED, NY – Alfred University will induct four former athletes and a former coach into its Athletics Hall of Fame during an on-campus banquet Saturday, Oct. 2.

Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are traditionally held during the University’s annual Homecoming celebration. Members of the Hall of Fame Class of 2010 are: former swimming and diving coach Mike Schaeberle; former cross country and track and field standout Joe DiCamillo ’62; football player Paul McDonnell ’88; former swimmer Brian Striker ’00; and former women’s lacrosse player Lauren D’Aurio ’00.

Schaeberle was one of the top men’s swimming and diving coaches in the nation during his 24-year tenure at AU, from 1972-95. He coached 27 All-Americans, including six-time NCAA Division III?champ and AU Hall of Fame member Howard Seidman.

He had a 172-95 career record in men’s dual meets and was coach of the Saxon teams that set a school record for consecutive wins in dual meets (28, from 1987-89, equaled in 2009). Schaeberle was coach of 10 current members of the AU Hall of Fame, including his sons, Tim ’85 and Cary ’87. His daughter Theresa ’98 also graduated from Alfred.

Schaeberle lists the following as his greatest thrills at AU: guiding Seidman to his national titles; coaching his children as Alfred University swimmers; “and the relationships I’ve maintained with my former athletes.”

Since his retirement from AU in 1995, Schaeberle has been active as a swimming official. He officiates high school boys’ and girls’ meets at the dual-meet, sectional and state championship level, and also officiates locally at the collegiate level. He and his wife, Sonia Anne, live in Hammondsport.

DiCamillo ran cross country and track at AU for four seasons. A member of AU teams that won three state cross country titles and two track championships, he was a two-time state track champ in the 880-yard run (1960 and 1961) and twice competed in the NCAA cross country championships.

After graduating from AU in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, DiCamillo was a high school chemistry teacher at Alfred-Almond Central School while working toward a master’s in education at AU, which he received in 1965. He was guidance counselor at Gates-Chili High School near Rochester, NY, from 1965 until his retirement in 1996.

DiCamillo stayed active in cross country after his collegiate career ended, coaching the varsity and freshman cross country teams in 1961 and 1962 and serving as varsity cross country coach at Gates-Chili High School from 1970-80. DiCamillo, who passed away in 2007, and his wife, Christine ’62, resided in Rochester and had three daughters.

According to Carl Blanchard ’60, a teammate of DiCamillio’s on the AU cross country and track and field teams, “Joe loved long distance running. He was proud to run with outstanding athletes and to represent Alfred University. One of his greatest joys was when he was head coach for the varsity and freshman cross country teams at Alfred University.”

McDonnell was a standout quarterback and punter on the football team, earning All-American honors as junior in 1987, when he threw for 1,404 yards. A four-year starter (1985-88), he was quarterback on the 1986 team that went 9-2 and won the ECAC?North Championship Bowl.

For his career, he threw for 4,431 yards — which placed him third on the AU career list at the time of his graduation — which ranks seventh on the current all-time list. He earned honorable mention All-American honors in 1987 and was a 1988 preseason All-American. He led New York Upstate teams in passer efficiency in 1987 and was top five in the ECAC in punting each of his four seasons at Alfred.

McDonnell lists the 1987 season as most memorable. That year, he and two teammates — tailback Ray Rogers and defensive back Greg Prusia — earned All-American honors.

“As a team we averaged 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing,” he recalled. McDonnell himself rushed for more than 500 yards that season, and in a game against Buffalo, rushed and passed for a touchdown and caught a TD pass as well.

McDonnell earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from AU in 1989 and went on to earn a master’s in physical education/sports management in 1991 from Springfield (MA) College, where he served two seasons as a graduate assistant football coach.

He is currently an independent manufacturer’s representative in Ballston Lake, NY, representing numerous companies in the sporting goods industry. He has stayed involved with football, serving as a volunteer assistant varsity football coach at Burnt Hill-Ballston Lake High School since 2006. He and his wife, Penny (Giess) ’87, live in Ballston Lake with their two children.

Striker was a four-year letterwinner on the men’s swimming and diving team, earning All-American honors five times (three individual races; two relays). He was a state champ in the 200-yard freestyle in 2000 and is a former school record-holder in the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle.

He has been the head men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach at Alfred University since 2002. In his eight years at the helm of the men’s team, he has guided the Saxons to four Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association championships (2003, 2007, 2008 and 2009) and five Empire 8 Conference championship titles (2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009).

Striker is a five-time UNYSCSA and Empire 8 Conference Coach of the Year; athletes he has coached have won 142 Empire 8 individual and relays events and 54 UNYSCSA individual and relay events. He, along with fellow 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Mike Schaeberle, shares the school record for consecutive men’s dual-meet coaching victories (28, from 2005-2009). He has coached six All-Americans during his tenure at AU, during which time 31 individual and 15 relay school records have been set.

He graduated from AU in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration (computer science minor) and earned his MBA from AU in 2006. He remained involved in swimming and diving after graduation. Prior to becoming coach at AU, he served three seasons as varsity coach at his high school alma mater, York (NY) Central School, and three seasons as an assistant coach for the Fairport Area Swim Team.

Striker lives in Hornell with his wife, Ashleigh, and their two children.

D’Aurio was a four-year star attacker on the AU women’s lacrosse team, from 1997-2000, and currently holds school records for goals and points in a career and single season and is the former career and single-season record holder for assists.

At the time of her graduation in 2000, D’Aurio held every single-game, single-season and career scoring record at AU. She still holds school career records for goals (201) and points (251) and the single-season record for goals (75) and points (88), set in 2000. She also holds the school’s career record for groundballs (204) and draw controls (130), the single-game record for points (12), and shares the school single-game record for goals (10). When she graduated, she held the school career for assists, with 50, which now ranks fourth all-time.

D’Aurio was U.S. Lacrosse honorable mention All-American and a U.S. Lacrosse Second Team Regional All-American her senior season of 2000. That year, she was also named Empire 8 Conference Co-Player of the Year and was an ECAC All-Star. She served as a team captain two seasons at AU.

She describes as her greatest thrill as an AU athlete as, “Having a great game and playing with the wonderful teammates I had in my lacrosse career.”

D’Aurio earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (concentration in photography/digital media) in 2000. She lives in New York City and has worked in the photography/digital imaging technology industry for the last decade. Since the fall of 2008, she has worked a freelance photographer re-toucher at Box Ltd., a New York City company that provides high-end retouching for fashion and fine art, and photo post-production for major magazines, photographers, and ad agencies.